Economic gloom

A reader is struggling to get over the lack of any serious discussion about the future of our business
economy in the General Election campaign.

I am still struggling to get over the lack of any serious discussion about the future of our business economy in the General Election campaign.

I presume the party leaders read the financial press — perhaps even The Engineer — and are aware that this country is facing a crisis of competition from cheap overseas economies. They must also know that the UK does not have enough of the sort of competitive businesses left that would help us to fight back.

Most of the talk about the economy focused on tax, which will be pretty irrelevant if nobody is paying any because there are no jobs; or the cost of housing, which likewise is a side issue compared to future employment.

We all know that the government has compensated for the loss of thousands of engineering and production jobs by hiring the same number of people or more to work for the government itself. That’s a short-term fix that cannot work forever.

The question the Election should have asked people is ‘Will you take a pay cut to remain competitive with the Chinese?’ The answer would presumably have come back as a no — so what are we going to do to secure this nation’s long-term future?

Nobody is saying schools and hospitals and house prices aren’t important, but let’s look at the bigger picture and sort out where the UK is going as a country.